An Autobiography

Description

A powerful and commanding account of the life of trailblazing political activist Angela Davis Edited by Toni Morrison and first published in 1974, An Autobiography is a classic of the Black Power era which resonates just as powerfully today. Long hard to find, it is reissued now with a new introduction by Davis, for a new audience inspired and galvanised by her ongoing activism and her extraordinary example. In the book, she describes her journey from a childhood on Dynamite Hill in Birmingham, Alabama, to one of the most significant political trials of the century- from her political activity in a New York high school to her work with the U.S. Communist Party, the Black Panther Party, and the Soledad Brothers; and from the faculty of the Philosophy Department at UCLA to the FBI's list of the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives. Told with warmth, brilliance, humour, and conviction, it is an unforgettable account of a life committed to radical change.

Angela Y. Davis is a political activist, scholar, author, and speaker. She is an outspoken advocate for the oppressed and exploited, writing on Black liberation, prison abolition, the intersections of race, gender, and class, and international solidarity with Palestine. She is the author of several books, including Women, Race, and Class and Are Prisons Obsolete? She is the subject of the acclaimed documentary Free Angela and All Political Prisoners and is Distinguished Professor Emerita at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

There are books you should read, books that you will enjoy reading, and books that will educate you. Rarely does one book do all three. The Autobiography of Angela Y. Davis is one of those books -- Marcus Ryder [A] rare book that even almost 50 years later feels timely and relevant. Maybe too relevant, considering how little has changed in the interim * Los Angeles Times * She has eyes in the back of our head. With her we can survive and resist -- John Berger Davis's arguments for justice are formidable. . . The power of her historical insights and the sweetness of her dream cannot be denied * The New York Times *